Beyond Class Hours: the Gis lab as a Center of Geographic education

Much has been written regarding the effectiveness of different teaching styles; however, considerably less has been written about the physical design of computer classrooms and their implications on education. To date, nothing has been written regarding building an informal learning community within a computer classroom, particularly outside of formal class hours. In this paper, the author examines designing an environment in which geography students feel at home, that is, a center of geographic education. Such a center could be defined as a place where students and faculty congregate to create and transmit geographic knowledge. A GIS lab can be such a place if deliberate care and effort are taken to ensure that the lab is multidisciplinary, dynamic, encourages creativity and discourse, and is a think tank for solving geospatial problems. This paper illustrates some proven methods for building such an environment.